U.S. patent application number 10/535538 was filed with the patent office on 2006-03-30 for electric supply system for the door of refrigerators and freezers.
This patent application is currently assigned to Multibras S.A. Elletrodomesticos. Invention is credited to Sthefan Verjas de Almeida, Estevao Marino Espindola, Fabio Riberio Pimentel, Darlan Princival Junior, Ademar Testoni.
Application Number | 20060064846 10/535538 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36097379 |
Filed Date | 2006-03-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060064846 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Espindola; Estevao Marino ;
et al. |
March 30, 2006 |
Electric supply system for the door of refrigerators and
freezers
Abstract
An electric supply system for the door of refrigerators and
freezers and other appliances comprising a cabinet (10) to which is
articulated an end edge (21) of a door (20) carrying an electronic
control means (30), comprising a connecting means (15) mounted to
each region of the cabinet (10) that is foreseen to receive and
affix a respective hinge (40); an auxiliary electric wiring (16)
connecting each connecting means with an internal electric circuit
of the appliance; a duct (22) provided in the door (20) and having
an inlet (22a) opened to the interior of the door (20) and a pair
of outlets (22b) opened to the outside of the end edge (21), one of
them bearing a tubular hinge pin (42) of a respective hinge (40);
an electric wiring (31) mounted through the duct (22) and the hinge
pin (42) and having an internal end (32) connected with the
electronic control means (30) and an external end (33) coupled to
the connecting means (15) adjacent to the hinge (40).
Inventors: |
Espindola; Estevao Marino;
(Joinville-Sc, BR) ; Testoni; Ademar;
(Joinville-Sc, BR) ; de Almeida; Sthefan Verjas;
(Sao Bernardo Do Campo-Sp, BR) ; Pimentel; Fabio
Riberio; (Joinville-SC, BR) ; Princival Junior;
Darlan; (Joinville-SC, BR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DARBY & DARBY P.C.
P. O. BOX 5257
NEW YORK
NY
10150-5257
US
|
Assignee: |
Multibras S.A.
Elletrodomesticos
Sao Paulo-SP
BR
04578-000
|
Family ID: |
36097379 |
Appl. No.: |
10/535538 |
Filed: |
November 17, 2003 |
PCT Filed: |
November 17, 2003 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/BR03/00167 |
371 Date: |
November 1, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
16/223 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E05D 11/0081 20130101;
Y10T 16/522 20150115; F25D 2323/024 20130101; F25D 23/028 20130101;
F25D 2400/40 20130101; E05D 7/081 20130101; E05D 7/02 20130101;
E05Y 2900/31 20130101; F25D 29/005 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
016/223 |
International
Class: |
E05D 11/00 20060101
E05D011/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 25, 2002 |
BR |
PI 0205050-1 |
Claims
1. An electric supply system for the door of refrigerators and
freezers and other appliances comprising a cabinet (10) to which is
articulated an end edge (21) of a door (20) carrying an electronic
control means (30), characterized in that it comprises a correcting
means (15) mounted to each region of the cabinet (10) which is
foreseen to receive and affix a respective hinge (40) provided with
a tubular hinge pin (42); an auxiliary electric wiring (16)
connecting the connecting means with an internal electric circuit
of the appliance; a duct (22) provided in the door (20) and having
an inlet (22a) opened to the interior of the door (20) and an
outlet opened (22b) to the outside of the end edge (21) of the door
(20), in a coaxial position in relation to that foreseen for
mounting the hinge pin (42) of a respective hinge (40), as a
function of the opening directions foreseen for the door (20); a
tubular bushing (45) provided at the outlet (22b) of the duct (22)
for receiving and bearing the hinge pin (42) of the hinge (40); an
electric wiring (31) mounted through the duct (22), from its inlet
(22a) to its outlet (22b) and through the hinge pin (42) of the
hinge (40), in order to have an internal end (32) connected with
the electronic control means (30) and an external end (33)
electrically coupled to the connecting means (15) adjacent to the
hinge (40).
2. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 1,
characterized in that the connecting means (15) is mounted inside a
respective housing (12) provided on the face of the cabinet (10) to
which the hinge (40) is affixed.
3. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 2,
characterized in that there are provided two housings (12), each
located close to a respective side of the cabinet (10) and housing
a connecting means (15) connected to the auxiliary electric wiring
(16).
4. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 1,
characterized in that the duct (22) takes the form of a groove
defined in the end edge (21) of the door (20) with which the hinge
(40) cooperates, the inlet (22a) being defined at the bottom of the
median region of the groove presenting widened opposite ends
defining a pair of outlets (22b).
5. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 4,
characterized in that the duct (22) in the form of a groove has its
depth enlarged at its opposite end regions so as to lodge an
orthogonal bending of the electric wiring (31).
6. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 4,
characterized in that the end edge (21) of the door (20) is defined
by a finishing end cap incorporating the duct (22) in the form of a
groove.
7. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 4,
characterized in that the duct (22) in the form of a groove is
closed by an elongated cap (25) removably fitted into said duct
(22).
8. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 7,
characterized in that the widened end of the duct (22) opposite to
that adjacent to the hinge (40) receives a small finishing cap (58)
removably fitted therein.
9. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 1,
characterized in that the hinge (40) comprises a basic plate (41)
to be removably affixed to the cabinet (10), projecting outwardly
from the contour of the latter so as to incorporate therein a
tubular hinge pin (42), to be rotatably supported in the interior
of the adjacent outlet (22b) of the duct (22).
10. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 9,
characterized in that the hinge pin (42) of the hinge (40) is
rotatably supported inside a tubular bushing (45) that is fitted
and retained inside the adjacent outlet (22b) of the duct (22).
11. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 10,
characterized in that the tubular bushing (45) incorporates an end
flange (46) to be seated onto the end edge (21) of the door
(20).
12. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 11,
characterized in that the tubular bushing (45) incorporates locking
tabs (46a) in its end flange (46), elastically deformable in the
radial direction so as to be fitted and retained in respective
housings (23) provided external to the outlets (22b) of the duct
(22).
13. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 9,
characterized in that it comprises a finishing main cover (50)
which is removably fitted over the hinge (40), in order to cover
the basic plate (41) of the latter and the adjacent housing (12)
and outlet (22b) of the duct (22).
14. The electric supply system as set forth in claim 13,
characterized in that it further comprises an auxiliary cover (55),
removably fitted in the housing (12) away from the hinge (40) and
which covers said housing (12) and the adjacent bores (18) of the
cabinet (10), for mounting said door (20) upon the reversion of its
opening direction.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention refers to a system to provide electric
supply to electronic control means installed in reversible or
non-reversible doors of refrigerators, freezers, and other
appliances that comprise a cabinet closed by one or more front
doors.
PRIOR ART
[0002] There are well known from the art the refrigerators and
freezers with a front door carrying an electronic control means,
which allows the user to be informed about the operational
parameters of the appliance and also to command the operation of
the latter.
[0003] In the refrigerators and freezers presenting a front door of
the non-reversible type as to its opening direction, the electric
supply of the electronic control means is generally provided
through the tubular pin of one of the hinges. The wiring connected
to the electric circuit of the appliance is disposed through the
structure of the cabinet, passing through the interior of the
tubular pin of a hinge, and extending through the interior of the
door until reaching the electronic control means to be energized.
In the refrigerators and freezers presenting a construction that
allows the opening direction of the door to be reverted in relation
to the factory original assembly, there is known the solution of
providing the electric supply of the electronic control means in
the door through electromagnetic induction produced by a
transformer with a two-piece core. In this solution, the primary of
the transformer is mounted to the cabinet, while the secondary is
installed in the door, making the electronic control means work
only when the door is in the closed condition.
[0004] Another known solution for energizing the electronic control
means installed in a reversible door utilizes contact pins,
respectively mounted to the cabinet and to the door and which close
the electric supply circuit of the electronic control means only
when the door is closed. Besides only energizing the electronic
control means when the door is closed, this prior art solution
presents the limitation of operating with low power electric
signals, due to the exposure of the contact pins when the door is
opened.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In view of the disadvantages mentioned above, it is the
object of the present invention to provide an electric supply
system for the door of refrigerators, freezers, and other
appliances of similar structure, which allows an electronic control
means provided in the door to be easily and safely energized,
regardless of the condition and the opening direction of said
door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The invention provides an electric supply system for the
door of refrigerators, freezers, and other appliances comprising a
cabinet to which is articulated an end edge of a door carrying an
electronic control means.
[0007] According to the invention, the supply system comprises a
connecting means mounted to each region of the cabinet designed to
receive and affix a respective hinge provided with a tubular hinge
pin, and an auxiliary electric wiring connecting the connecting
means to an internal electric circuit of the appliance.
[0008] The door is provided with a duct having an inlet opened to
the interior of the door and an outlet opened to the outside of the
end edge of the door, in a coaxial position in relation to that
foreseen for mounting the hinge pin of a respective hinge, as a
function of the opening directions foreseen for the door; a tubular
bushing provided in the outlet of the duct for receiving and
bearing the hinge pin of the hinge; an electric wiring mounted
through the duct, from its inlet to its outlet and through the
hinge pin of the hinge, in order to have an internal end connected
to the electronic control means and an external end coupled to the
connecting means adjacent to the hinge.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The invention will be described below, with reference to the
enclosed drawings, given by way of example of an embodiment of the
invention and in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a front partial and exploded perspective view of
the upper part of the cabinet of a refrigerator or freezer closed
by a front door and provided with the electric supply system of the
present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a lateral partial perspective view of the upper
part of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 1, showing the arrangement
of the electric wiring of the door with its external end coupled to
the connecting means mounted in the region of the cabinet where the
upper hinge of the door is affixed;
[0012] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the parts that
form an upper hinge and the upper finishing parts of the door, as
well as those which define the receiving duct of the electric
wiring of the door;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a somewhat schematic vertical sectional view of
the upper portion of the door, taken according to the longitudinal
axis of the duct;
[0014] FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail of the right-hand end portion
of FIG. 4, illustrating the passage of the electric wiring through
the upper hinge;
[0015] FIG. 6 is an enlarged, somewhat schematic vertical sectional
view of the upper portion of the door, taken according to a
direction that is orthogonal to the plane of the door and along the
mounting longitudinal axis of the hinge to the cabinet; and
[0016] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the upper part of the
assembly illustrated in FIG. 1 with the component parts in the
mounted condition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] As illustrated in the enclosed drawings and as mentioned
above, the invention is directed to refrigerators, freezers, and
other appliances provided with a generally parallelepipedic cabinet
10 that presents a front door 20 carrying an electronic control
means 30, of any adequate construction, which operates as an
interface between the refrigerator or freezer and the user,
allowing him/her to verify and command the operation of the
household appliance.
[0018] According to the proposed solution, the cabinet 10 has an
upper face 11 provided with two housings 12 disposed close to the
respective sides of the cabinet 10 in the region of the face of the
latter designed to receive and affix a respective hinge 40.
[0019] In the illustrated exemplary construction, there are
provided two housings 12, as the project of the household appliance
foresees the possibility of the door 20 having its opening
direction reverted in relation to that defined in the factory
original assembly. It should be understood that in the cases in
which the reversion of the opening direction of the door 20 is not
foreseen, the upper face 11 of the cabinet 10 can be provided with
only one housing 12 located in the mounting region of the upper
hinge 40 of the door 20.
[0020] Inside each housing 12 there is mounted a connecting means
15 of any adequate construction and which is schematically
illustrated, connected to the electric circuit (not illustrated) of
the household electric appliance by means of an auxiliary electric
wiring 16, schematically illustrated in dashed lines and which is
mounted inside the walls that define the structure of the cabinet
10 by any of the well known prior art processes which do not belong
to the present invention.
[0021] Each connecting means 15 is preferably mounted to the
respective housing 12 in a lowered position in relation to the
upper face 11 of the cabinet 10, so as to facilitate the finishing
of the latter, as described below.
[0022] According to a further aspect of the invention, the
connection between the electronic control means 30 and the internal
electric circuit of the appliance is made by an electric wiring 31,
constructed according to the working characteristics of the
appliance and which presents an internal end 32 connected to the
electronic control means 30 and an external end 33 constructed to
be electrically coupled to the connecting means 15 adjacent to the
hinge 40.
[0023] The electric wiring 31 is adequately mounted, according to
any adequate process for this type of construction, through the
interior of the structure of the door 20, projecting outwardly from
the median region of the end edge 21 of the door 20 where is
effected the articulation of said door 20 to the cabinet 10. In the
illustrated construction, in which the door 20 is a front door,
said end edge 21 is the upper edge defined by a finishing end cap
that is fitted and affixed to the structure of the door 20.
[0024] This finishing end cap is generally a molded piece
configured to complement a respective end portion of the door
20.
[0025] In order to allow the electric wiring 31 to be conducted
from the electronic control means 30 to the respective connecting
means 15, the door 20 is provided with a duct 22 having an inlet
22a opened to the inside of the door 20 and an outlet 22b opened to
the outside of the end edge 21 of the door 20 in a position which
is coaxial with each position foreseen for the hinge axis of the
hinge 40. In the illustrated example, the duct 22 takes the form of
a groove provided in the finishing end cap of the end edge 21 of
the door 20. In the median region of said groove is defined the
inlet 22a of the electric wiring 31 and its enlarged opposite ends
define the outlets 22b of the electric wiring 31 of the door 20,
each outlet 22b being coaxially aligned with the hinge axis of the
hinge 40 to be mounted to the adjacent side of the cabinet 10.
[0026] As illustrated, the hinge 40 comprises a basic plate 41 to
be seated and affixed, usually by screwing, onto the upper face 11
of the cabinet 10, and projecting outwardly from the contour of the
latter, in order to incorporate a tubular hinge pin 42 having a
free end projecting orthogonally from the basic plate 41, and an
end incorporated to the latter and opened to the interior
thereof.
[0027] It should be understood that the hinge 40 might be installed
not only in the upper face 11 of the cabinet 10, but also in other
parts of the structure of the latter, so as to allow installing the
present electric supply system in other doors rather than those
whose upper end edge is leveled with the upper face 11 of the
cabinet 10.
[0028] To complement the hinge 40, there is provided a tubular
bushing 45 presenting an end flange 46 and mounted in the interior
of each outlet 22b of the duct 22, so as to receive in the interior
thereof and rotatably support the hinge pin 42 of the hinge 40. The
tubular bushing 45 can be constructed in different materials that
facilitate its molding and present adequate strength and
antifriction characteristics for bearing the hinge pin 42 of the
hinge.
[0029] In the illustrated construction, the end flange 46 of the
tubular bushing 45 is seated on the end edge 21 of the door 20,
being there retained by a pair of locking tabs 46a, elastically
deformable in the radial direction and which will be fitted and
retained in respective housings 23 provided external to the outlets
22b of the duct 22.
[0030] As better illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the duct 22
presents a greater depth in the end regions, in order to allow the
electric wiring 31 coming from the inlet 22a to be orthogonally
bent and inserted through both the tubular bushing 45 and the hinge
pin 42 of the hinge 40, to be then seated on the basic plate 41 of
the latter and have its external end 33 taken to the interior of
the adjacent housing 12 so as to be coupled to the respective
connecting means 15.
[0031] For finishing the assembly, there is provided a main cover
50 that is removably fitted over the hinge 40 so as to cover the
basic plate 41 of the latter and also the adjacent housing 12 and
the outlet 22b of the duct 22 through which the electric wiring 31
has been passed, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 7. The fixation of
the main cover 50 can be achieved, by fitting internal teeth (not
illustrated) into marginal recesses 43 of the basic plate 41. The
bores 18 of the upper face 11 of the cabinet 10, which are located
adjacent to the other housing 12 to receive the hinge 40 upon the
reversion of the opening direction of the door 20, are covered with
an auxiliary cover 55 constructed to be fitted in the adjacent
housing 12, covering the latter and the bores 18 that secure the
hinge 40.
[0032] In the rectilinear upper portion of the duct 22 is fitted a
removable elongated cap 25, which is formed in one or more pieces
preferably extruded in plastic material. The outlet 22b of the duct
22 opposite to that covered by the main cover 50 is superiorly
closed by a small finishing cap 58 that is also removably fitted.
The provision of the covers and the caps protects the assembly
against the undue entry of water inside the cabinet 10 and the door
20.
[0033] As it can be noted from the description above, the present
system allows using only one construction for the cabinet 10 and
the door 20 to comply with the constructive particularities of the
appliances of the type considered herein, whether they present or
not an electronic control means 30 mounted to a front door. The
proposed construction maintains the same characteristics,
regardless of the presence of the electric wiring 31, of the
auxiliary electric wiring 16, of the connecting means 15, and also
of the side of the cabinet 10 onto which the hinge 40 will be
mounted.
[0034] In order to revert the opening direction of the door 20, the
only thing to do is to disassemble the hinge 40 of one of the
sides, assembling it on the other side of the cabinet 10, executing
the same operation in relation to the main cover 50 and auxiliary
cover 55, caps 25, 58 and tubular bushing 45. The wiring 31 has its
external end 33 uncoupled from a connecting means 15 and coupled to
the connecting means 15 provided in the housing 12 on the other
side of the cabinet 10, and the wiring 31 is seated on the other
half of the duct 22. Thus, the reversion of the opening direction
of the door may be effected by the user himself/herself, by using
the same components of the factory original assembly, which do not
require specific constructive features to be mounted, either to the
right or to the left side. It is still possible, upon using the
connecting means 15 on the right side (factory original condition),
to de-energize the extension of the auxiliary electric wiring 16
that supplies the connecting means 15 on the left side.
[0035] While only one embodiment of the invention has been
illustrated herein, it should be understood that changes could be
made in the form and arrangement, without departing from the
constructive concept defined in the claims that accompany the
present specification.
* * * * *